Using the Resources Wisely

(Note ~ My intention was to add pictures to this post.  Unfortunately, my camera is broken and I don't want to wait until I get a new one to post this.  So, I'll just say, pictures are coming ...eventually.)

Now that I have all the resources I will use for the coming school year in hand, or, I should say in bins and boxes, it's time to decide how and when they will be used.  For too many years, I stopped my planning process at the previous stage.  Once I had all my books, sorted by who would use them, I considered my planning complete.  The problem is that I never really felt like I was getting everything from the resources I had ordered.  Math was easy, I just followed the book.  But many of the other resources I used should have been better planned out.  If you are an unschooler, or someone who does not like to plan you might find that this post seems like over doing it.  But for our homeschool I find it necessary.  So, the next step then is going through each resource and making some important decisions.

I would like to note here, that I don't do any of this planning for my daughter, Social Butterfly.  She is enrolled with Mother of Divine Grace so in her case, all the planning is done for me.  This is a great fit for my daughter and each year they add new services to help  us busy homeschooling moms out.  This year Social Butterfly will have the advantage of taking a few on-line courses provided my MODG.  We are both very excited about this.  I do not have my sons enrolled yet.  I decided to hold off for a couple of years since I really enjoy making the decisions regarding what they will learn and when. But like their sister, they will all be enrolled by 8th grade, if not sooner.  I have nothing but good things to say about Mother of Divine Grace.  Now, back to the planning...

This year, I am using a very helpful e-book from Simply Charlotte Mason called Planning Your Charlotte Mason Education.  This is a very thorough planning resource that takes you through several steps to, in my opinion, getting the most from the resources you have taken the time to gather and possibly purchase.  This book takes you through the stages of planning, from looking at the year as a whole, to breaking down your day.  The steps look very much like the steps I have been blogging about, since I am using this tool, but I have tweaked things to suit our needs a bit better.

I really appreciate the tables that are included in Planning Your Charlotte Mason Education.  The book shows how to fill them out, providing examples, and includes a section in the back containing more blank tables that can be used.  One of the first tables to be filled in, once you have all the resources in hand is the "Term Outline Chart". On this chart you will list each resource, how you want to divide it (pages, lessons, chapters, etc.), how many of these divisions there are, and how you want to distribute the divisions into your school terms.  For example,  one of the books we will use this year is the Baltimore Catechism #2.  I noted that this book has "lessons" for the divisions and there are 37 total.  The chart in Planning Your CM Education divides the year into three 12 week terms, so doing a bit of math,  I know we need to accomplish 13 lessons for one term and 12 for the other two.  I, personally, have divided my year into 6 six week terms.  I just find it easier to plan that way so I added a few columns to the chart and divided the book further which means I have 6 columns noting that we will cover six lessons each term, and one term adding a 7th.

The next form this book provides is the Weekly Work Worksheet.  This is a worksheet you will fill out for each term.  Here you will list the subjects, the books chosen for each subject, the number of division for the term you are planning and the number of days you will use that resource.  Back to the Baltimore Catechism example, I listed it as Religion, Baltimore Catechsim 2, 37 divisions (lessons), and 6 for Term 1.  That means we will cover 6 lessons in the first term.  For number of days, I put 4 because I will spread each lesson out over 4 days.  For "living books", like in the case of historical fiction, I might decide to have my child read the entire book in one term or divide it among several terms. I would simply need to note the number of chapters to be read for each term the book will be used.


Planning Your CM Education then goes on to show you how to create a weekly schedule and plug the resources in, according to the number of days you will be using them.  There is much more to this book, many examples and helpful tips to aid you in your planning.  It also provides chapters on how to choose resources, Charlotte Mason recommendations, planning your day, and more.  I highly recommend it as a planning tool.

Once I've used these tools to help me with the break down of the books we will use, I break them down farther with a chart I make on Word.  It is a simple chart, just listing the week number, resource, and pages or lessons to be accomplished.  I use this chart to create my weekly lesson plans, or sometimes I just use the chart as the plan and cross things off as we go.  I really like the way Sarah color codes her lists.  I think I will use that idea as I go through this step of the planning process.  While I sometimes think I need lengthy paragraphs describing what we will do in the various subjects I realize that in the midst of a busy day with children in various grades and little ones getting into things that all I really need is the book and page number.  If I need to get more information regarding an assignment I can always look it up.  This chart gives me a nice, at a glance, look at what we need to accomplish each day and where we are at in terms of our goals.  Below is a portion of Jetter's chart, so you can see the layout.  I just need to plug in what pages from the resources he will be doing.  You wont see religion, science, or memory work listed because they go on a seperate "Family" Chart.  We are doing those subjects together this year.

Lesson Plans for Grade 6, 2012-2013                                      

Week/Day	Saxon 7/6	Language	Diagramming	Latin for Children	Spelling Wisdom	Daily Paragraph Editing	History	Art Drafting Sketchbook
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
2.1

Finally, I want to talk about one other planning tool I am using this year.  It actually comes from another  e-book that I purchased several years ago.  I got The Tanglewood Corebook to use as my planner one year.  It was very nice and helpful but after that year I no longer used it.  However, in this corebook, there are pages that I find quite helpful.  One of these is a sheet for listing your goals for the year in each subject, divided by term.  This is similar to the chart I talked about above, but it's lay out is a bit different.  First, it's divided into 6 week terms.  For each six weeks, you simply note what chapter or lesson you should be on for each subject at the end of that term.  I find this helpful for subjects like math, grammar and spelling, especially.  Then there is another chart, to be filled out at the end of the term where you note which chapter or lesson you are on, verses the goal you had set at the start of that year or term.  You then note what adjustments you need to make, if any, to reach the original goal.  I think this will help me to stay accountable to my goals.  So often I find that life sweeps us away with it and the original goals I had set are not attainable.  Evaluating every six weeks will help us stay on track, and help me to see if my goals are even realistic.

This part of the planning process takes quite a bit of time and I usually do it in spurts, whenever I have some free time.  From this step, I will go on to how I communicate to  my children what their responsibilities are for each day.  This year I'll be using a combination of past methods, depending on the personality and needs of each child.  This will be the content of my next post.  If you missed the last planning posts, here are the links ~

Beginning the Planning Process
Setting Goals
The School Calendar
Choosing Resources
Hunting and Gathering
Cleaning the School Room

A Monumental Task

Now that all the new books have been ordered I'll need to do the gathering part - pulling books we already own off the shelves. But before I start taking out next year's books, I really need to clean up from last year.  The task cleaning up the school room this time is going to be monumental.  Why, you ask?
Let me give you a scenario to consider ...

Imagine you have a graduating senior and you plan to have a big open house for him.  You finish your school year a bit haphazardly because you become ultra focused on getting the yard ready for this openhHouse as soon as warm weather hits.  You are very stressed because at the particular school your son attended for highschool, open houses are a really big deal and it's customary to invite everybody.  Now, it's a small school - about 200 at the highschool - but since you are inviting more than just close friends and family, alot more, you become filled with anxiety about how your house looks.  So, Spring is spent relandscaping and making lists of everything you want to do inside once you are done with the outside.

Now, plan a trip to happen the weekend before the open house.  Really?  Did I really do that?  Yes.  Part of it was because we had two nieces graduating this year and we wanted to attend their open houses in another state.  Part of it was because my mother hasn't been feeling well and we wanted to go and pick her up so she could come back here to stay with us for a while, and, part of it was because I felt we would need a break from the stress. So we went to Ohio and spent a day at Cedar Point.  It was great!  I didn't think about our open house at all.  How could I with all those fantastic roller coasters?! The next day we had a lovely time at my niece's open house, then we headed for home.

So, back to that scenario...
Now, come home, get mom settled in her room, remember the older two kids will be helping all week at the VBS, remember you are driving your kids and a friend's kids to this VBS all week, look around the house and PANIC!  One week to go and while the yard is looking pretty good, the porches need swept, the windows need cleaned and the inside of the house is, (sigh), not at all ready.  Oh! Remember also that ALL. THAT. FOOD needs to be purchased and prepared.  Then realize, while typically the two older kids are really good at watching the younger kids so you can get stuff done, they wont be here - all week - because of the VBS. 

So what do you do?  You quickly start filling up the room in the basement that has a door you can close.  What room is that?  The school room.  It's okay, at first.  Most of the stuff you are putting down there is school stuff.  You decide things like easles in the sun room and baskets of books in the living room probably wont do for the open house so those get taken down to the school room.  Then, husband decides that chair he needs to fix might get sat on and broken more, so he takes that down to the school room.  Then, when the kids are supposed to be cleaning the other room in the basement, the one we call the play room, they decide to just shove all the toys into the school room.  It goes on like this all week.

Finally the big day comes and the open house is a huge success.  All those family members leave for their homes in Ohio and Grandma goes with them.  You relax for an entire day and then the next day you go down to the school room to get something ...
OH MY!

So, as you may have guessed, there will be no sitting around just waiting for the new books to come.  It's time to clean, again.  I better get started! 

The Hunting and Gathering Stage

Moving on now to gathering and purchasing materials for the coming school year.  To keep things organized, I create a table in Word with the following column headings:

Item

Subject/ Storage Location

For Whom

Purchase, gather or organize

Source

Price

Notes

Remember, this is after I have already done the research and chosen what books and materials I will use for each child.  This table helps me in the "hunting and gathering" of all those materials I want to use. 

The Item column is self explanatory - just the name of the resource.

  The Subject/Storage/Location column is where I will jot down not only the subject but where I will keep the books and where we will use the books.  For instance, we do Math at the dining room table but history read alouds are done in the living room.  I store the books as close as possible to the place they are used.  I note this on my sheet, so as I gather books I can easily remember where to put them as we await the new school year.

For Whom is self explanatory. I write the name of the child the item is for.

Purchase, Gather, Organize  is where I note whether this book is already on our shelves or if I have to buy it.  I also note here if something requires organization.  An example of that would be a lap book of some sort, or even something like All About Spelling.  I try to get things set up ahead of time so that things run smoothly during the year.  This column is sort of a"to do list".

Source is where I note the company I will purchase from.  If I already have the item I can just put "home" here, or something like that.  Notations in this column might change if I find the resource at a cheaper price.

Price helps me stay in my budget. 

Notes is where I put anything I want to remember while I'm preparing to use this item.

Once this table is filled out I write up my shopping lists.  I have done this with paper and pen and also at the computer.  I guess it just depends on the mood I'm in.  I usually have several lists.  Emmanuel Books and Rainbow Resources appear every year.  I also purchase from other companies though so those will each have their own list. 

When everything on my Gathering and Purchasing list has been noted, I take my lists and start ordering, or pulling items off of our shelves. I have to admit I enjoy buying new books, but there is a certain satisfaction that comes from using resources that I already own.

Detour

Planning was put on hold last week while we enjoyed some family time.  Last weekend we headed for Ohio where we went to my nieces Open House.  Before getting there though, we spent Saturday at Cedar Point.  What a fun day we had!  Lots of roller coasters and other rides.  Everyone had a great time.  The Open House was also enjoyable as we reconnected with aunts, uncles and cousins that we hadn't seen for too long.

My mother came back home with us to spend the week as we prepared for Night Owl's Open House. That was a very busy week!  It was nice to have her here but I'm afraid we didn't have much time to visit. 

Yesterday (Sunday) was hectic in a fun sort of way as we hosted the biggest party we've ever thrown.  Lots of people, a huge tent, tons of food .... Whew!  Now we're exhausted!  We couldn't be more proud of Night Owl as this time of his life comes to close and college awaits.

Back to planning tomorrow though.  I need to get some books ordered!

Choosing Resources

Choosing the resources I will use to reach the goals I listed in step 3 is one of my favorite parts of planning for the coming year.  If anyone is keeping track, this is the 4th step in my planning process.  I should add here though, that even though I am breaking things into "steps" there is some overlap.  For example, "Choosing Resources" might be step 4, but it is really something I do year round. 

I am always on the look out for new resources for my home school.  Now, I don't actively seek them year round, but if I read a blog post about a great grammar program or hear about a new way to use a history timeline, or whatever, I make sure to note it in one of two places.  Here on my computer, I have a file in my "Favorites" entitled "Curriculum to Consider".  When I come across something I want to look into more, or definitely use in the future, I simply save it in that file.  I also have a handwritten list that I keep in a notebook.  This notebook usually sits on the stand by the couch on which I sit to do most of my reading, or in the bag that houses books I am in the process of reading.  When spring or late winter rolls around and I get into "planning mode" I take the time to really look into these resources.

These two lists of curricula and resources to consider get considerably long by the time I start planning!  When I'm ready to actually plan for the coming year, I take the snippets of time that I have and research each item.  Sometimes I think to myself, "What was I thinking?  That will never do!" and I can cross that item off my list.  Often though, I have some tough decisions to make between several good resources.  Here is where it is important for me to go back to the goals I have prayerfully set.  It makes it a little easier to make a decision when I can ask, "Is this resource going to help me or my child achieve the intended goal for this year?"  Sometimes, it might be a really great book that everyone is raving about and I just love because it has so much visual appeal, or whatever, but, if it doesn't help me reach the goals I took the time to set, it gets crossed off the list (or at least moved to next years "Curriculum to Consider List"!)   So as long as I refer to the goals I set, this process of elimination isn't too difficult. 

Sometimes, a resource makes me want to add a goal to my  list.  That can work okay, but I have to work hard to keep my love of curricula from dictating what our goals will be.  I learned early on that keeping our ship on course means having a definite harbor to reach.  Allowing the various curricula to dictate our course causes our boat to go this way and that way and we never really reach a harbor at all, never mind the one we had intended to shoot for.

For keeping track of all of these curriculum choices, once again, I keep two lists.  One is here at the computer in Word, and the other is, once again, in my notebook.  I do this because I find that I am not always at my computer when I am working on my planning.  We only have one family computer in the house so we have to share it's use.  That means, when I have time to do some planning, if someone is working (or playing!) at the computer, I have to wait.  Having a notebook allows me to do it in both places, and then I can consolidate in the end.  And, to be honest, I actually prefer to use the notebook.  The computer is great because of the tables I can make.  It's quick and efficient, but I really enjoy the process of actually writing things out.  I'm not sure I could ever go "paperless".  So, whether it's a chart on the computer or one in my notebook I include several things.  I label the columns on my charts as: Name (of the person for which the resource is intended), Subject (for which it will be used), Title (of the resource),  Source (from which to purchase), Price, and Notes. 

Once I feel that I have considered and decided upon the resources for the coming year, I take my handwritten list and add it to the list on the computer.    I also make sure to add things to this list I already have.  While the paragraphs above might make it sound like I choose new books for each subject each year, that is not the case.  Some things are tried and true and appear on my list every year.  So now, my list becomes the "Books and Materials to Gather or Purchase for 2012-2013" list.  When adding one of the beloved books that I use over and over to my list, I just write "home" or "have" in the Source column and put a "0" for price.  I also add things to this list that are not actually books, but items I know we will need like copywork notebooks, art supplies, classical music CD's, etc.

I'm not sure I can link to every source of information that I use regarding choosing curriculum, or even to every source I use to purchase the curriculum, but here are a few links to get started:

When choosing curriculum I often look to ~
First and formost, guidance from our Lord and Holy Mother Mary through prayer
then (in no specific order),
The various blogs I read about homeschooling
The widsom from the ladies at 4Real, MODGFamilies, and DYOCCFamilies
My Consultant from MODG who is such a blessing
The Mother of Divine Grace Website
Cathy Duffy Reviews
My IRL homeschooling friends

When purchasing curriculum I go to ~
Emmanuel Books (Probably my first choice for purchasing homeschool books.  I like to support this small Catholic company as much as possible.)
Rainbow Resource (The Rainbow catalog is huge and a bit intimidating!  I try to have my shopping list in hand before I peruse this resource.  If not, I can come away with all sorts of things I had no idea I was going to buy! 
Amazon (I often compare Rainbow and Amazon for the best price)
Cathswap (Buying used curriculum is a real money saver, and it helps out my fellow homeschoolers!)

There are  others that I occasionally buy from but not every year.  There are usually one or two specific things I purchase from: CHC,  Abeka ,Seton, CCMemory, Neumann Press, Dick Blick  Home Science Tools orAll About Learning.

Finally, when I think I've got everything I could possibly need for the coming year on this list, I move on to the shopping step.  That's step 5!

If you missed steps 1-3, here are the links ~
Step 1 - Beginning
Step 2 - Setting Goals
Step 3 - School Calendar

Deciding on the School Calendar is the 3rd Step

I have read many things regarding the issue of schooling year round verses following a more traditional schedule.  We tend toward the traditional, although I always say I would like to change to year round.  It might not matter that much what sort of calendar we follow though.  I believe the kids are learning year round, even though we aren't officially doing school work.  The learning does change, so I don't think the kids consider it learning at all.  We go from math and history books to doing more hiking, camping, enjoying nature and vacationing.  Where else would my kids learn so much about the ocean except by visiting the ocean in the summer?  What better way to learn about the stars and constellations then by gazing up at them on a warm summer night?  Taking the canoes and kayaks down the river can be very educational, whether you are learning about the physics of not tipping the canoe, or whether you are learning about the wildlife you see while gazing lazily into the water as you row past.  So, regardless of the actual "School Calendar" I think we are year round learners, just don't tell the kids!

With that in mind, my 3rd step in the planning process is to decide on our school calendar.  In my state, we are to do school for 36 weeks, or 150 days.  Before I sit down to plan the calendar I jot some notes about times we will want to take a break from formal schooling.  I  know we will want to take off a week in the fall in order to visit our favorite family field trip location - Williamsburg, VA.  I also know, from experience, that I need the entire week of Thanksgiving since there is so much to do to prepare, and we need two weeks as Christmas.  I also like to take two weeks at Easter, one for Holy Week and one to really celebrate Easter.  Since it is the holiest time of the year, I feel it deserves more than a long weekend.  Finally, I like to schedule two weeks for testing.  These aren't breaks from the school year, they are counted as school days, but it is important that I actually schedule them in.

Next I print a form from Donna Young.  This site has quite a few calendar printables to choose from,
but I like to use a form like this or this form designed to keep track of attendance.  I like that I can jot little notes about what week number it is and the reason for various breaks, etc.

So, I know the times we want to take off for little breaks, I know we want to end our year by the end of May because, once we pass Easter, the nice weather comes and it gets more and more difficult for my kids to get their end of the year work done.  I also like the idea of dividing the year into 6 week terms.  This will work nicely for subjects like science where we can do a different unit per term. 

I discovered, after plugging in various start and stop times that if we want to end by May 31st, we will need to start by August 6th.  That is early compared to the school calendar, but my kids usually don't mind starting school early if they know they will be done earlier than the school kids.  ;)  They actually tend to be a bit bored by then and it is usually quite hot and humid outside.  Since they tend to want to be inside anyway, at least in the afternoons, it makes sense to be academically productive. :)

I also discovered that it will be difficult to plan my 6 week terms so that every one of them falls at a natural break point.  The first term works great.  Six weeks from Aug. 6 will be right about the time we want to go to Williamsburg.  But, the next term will actually be 7 weeks until we reach the natural break time of Thanksgiving.  Then we only have 5 weeks until Christmas break.  I think it will work out okay though. I will be sure to plan the more difficult units of study for those longer terms, and keep things a little lighter for the short terms.

This step in the planning process takes much less time than the others.  Since we have been homeschooling for 10 years now, (gasp!) I am aware of our tendencies and rhythms.  It takes only an evening to sit down with a calendar and a blank form and jot down the dates.  Getting the calendar figured out and down on paper gives me a settled feeling.  Now I get to move on to my all time favorite part of homeschool planning - choosing curriculum!

Setting Goals is the 2nd Step

After getting all my random thoughts and ideas down on paper, the next thing I do to plan is set some goals.  In all honesty, I have to admit that I often start looking at curriculum way before I set goals, but I try to have the goals in mind once I start the process of actually choosing curriculum.

There are several ways to set goals.  Some like to use the great forms available from Donna Young's website.  I'm sure there are other sites and programs with goal setting forms.  This year, I'm just writing them in my notebook.  I try to keep my goals very general.  In some cases I leave the nitty gritty to the program I'm using for a particular subject.  An example would be math.  I have always been very confident in the Saxon and Abeka math programs.  I know that my children are getting everything they need if I follow one of these.  I think I would find it too overwhelming to set specific goals for math.  I admire those who can do this and then use various resources to help them meet those goals.  English grammar is another example.  I tend to use Voyages or Easy Grammar and I believe, once again, that both of these programs provide the content my children need to learn.  So my goals are more general.

An example of a general goal would be  last year's reading goal for Jetter.  As a fifth grader, Jetter was able to read, but his stamina for reading was low.  A few minutes and he was done, moving on to climbing trees and wrestling with his brother.  So, the goal for Jetter this past school year was to increase reading stamina. We accomplished this by simply finding series of books that Jetter was interested in.  I started with the Bush Boys series which I found at CHC.  I bought just the first book because I didn't know if he would like them.  After one book he was hooked and I ended up buying all the rest.  He has also read the Lord of the Rings Trilogy and several of the Red Wall books.  He is currently waiting (impatiently) to get the next in the series.  He reads mostly before he goes to bed.  He enjoys the privilege of staying up after lights out so he can read a while.  And read he does!  I am delighted that it was so easy to accomplish this goal of building reading stamina!  Next year, the goal is to increase his writing stamina!  I'm not sure that's going to be as easy.

I try to set goals for each of my children in the five areas below.  Sometimes, it works better if the whole family works on one particular goal.  This is usually in the case of a virtue that I see lacking in my children and myself.  I'll describe each briefly below but I think the one thing that is so important, and that I need to really work on, is the act of REVISITING these goals that I have written.  I have, in the past, gone to great lengths to write out wonderful goals for my children and myself, only to stumble upon them in say, April, and think "Oh wow, I forgot we were going to work on that!"  (Yes, I can be that scatter-brained! :)  So the goal for keeping these goals always in mind is to revisit them on a regular basis.  Since I will be dividing our school year up into 6 six-week terms, revisiting goals (and adjusting if need be) will happen at the end of each term.

Early Morning Academics

Academic Goals - I touched on this above.  When possible, for the subjects like math, grammar and spelling, I try to use a program that I trust is going to cover the important objectives for each grade.  Sometimes I will need to add, like in the case of memorizing multiplication facts, but for the most part I can list the goals for these subjects in terms of pages completed.  So for Math I can list the academic goal as "Complete one lesson daily."  At the end of the six week term I know my child should be at lesson 30, or close to it.  Other subjects require more thought though.  For example,  I wrote about Jetter's reading goal above.  For Social BF, the goal for reading is to read more challenging literature, not necessarily a greater quantity.  I am including a Family Goal for Writing this year.  I think this is an area that we as a family need to work on.  I've ordered The Writer's Jungle that I hope to read for inspiration to help us reach our goal in this area.  So, in similar fashion, each child will have goals written for each subject that they will study.

Remorse (?)

Behavioral Goals are more difficult for me to write.  I think that is because I have to admit the misbehavior that is going on, and then make the efforts to correct it.  I think most moms  know the necessity of discipline, and I don't think I'm the only one that finds it difficult.  To take away a child's privileges in order to teach them to follow the rules, or be kind, or respect property (or whatever it is) is not just a hardship on the child being disciplined, but on the parent doing the disciplining.  Here is where the many prayers for grace come in!  I have to pray in order to be the consistent, loving parent I need to be.  Once again, writing these goals and then revisiting them each term helps us to stay on track.  The beauty here is when the goal is met and you can give a great sigh of relief.  ("Whew!  Thank you Lord, that little Beany has learned to stop hitting in anger"!)

First Communion and Confirmation!

Spiritual Goals are most often family goals.  Perhaps we want to make attending Adoration weekly a goal or maybe we need to work on more reverence during our family prayer times.  Or, maybe we're seeing the need to pay more attention at Mass.  The latter was one that we accomplished a couple of years ago.  It was quite simple:  After Mass my husband would ask the kids what the Gospel was about, or the homily, or the first reading, etc.  Since they new the question was coming they listened more intently.  I also listened more intently because of the conversation that often began after the question was asked.  This is also the area in which goals regarding virtue come in.  Areas like self control, obedience, fortitude, etc. can all be spiritual goals.

A terribly blurry picture!

Social Goals are being added to my list for the first time this year.  I think my children have done well in the social area so far.  They see their friends on a regular basis and they all seem to do well in making new friends, although some are a little more quiet than the others.  Also, one of the many advantages of having several children is that there is usually someone around to do things with.  Jetter and Builder are together 24/7.  Beany sometimes joins them or sometimes he and Patch play.  Social BF is the one I worry about most in this area though.  As she matures, she doesn't seem to want to play the same games as her brothers.  She needs other girls her age to talk to.    So we are making plans for guaranteed time with her friends on a regular basis.  One of these plans is to continue the book club she started last year.  It was quite a hit.  All her friends came over once a week and discussed a book that they were all reading.  It was simple, easy, and the girls just loved it.  This year we are also talking about a co-op which will be a new experience for me.  Boys Scouts is on the list of possibilities for the boys as well.  All of these things take effort on my part (driving here and there, making sure to take the time to arrange for kids to come over, planning events like field trips that groups can do together ...) but social interaction is part of the whole development of a person, so, in my opinion, it's just as important as math or spelling.

Builder is now a "Camo-belt"!

Physical Goals are pretty easy to cover around here!  I am blessed (although at times it might seem more like a curse ;) with active children.  But even though there is no lack of physical activity, there are  specific physical skills a child should learn.  Some of them are picked up by playing with their siblings and friends, but I usually try to involve my children in at least one sport each year.  The fall is usually our busiest time of year with soccer and football.  This year  we are also considering Tae Kwon Do for the boys which will be more of a year round activity.  Builder started last year and did very well. Social BF discovered her love for dance, so we will continue that for her.  Even though we live in a small town, the list of opportunities is really quite extensive.  Once again though, it takes that effort to get the kids to practices, watch the games and competitions, wash the uniforms, etc.  It helps that my  husband and I both see the need for this so we share the load. 


So, in ending this rather lengthy post, I will confess one of my goals!  My goal for this coming school  year is to not only prayerfully write the goals, but once again, to revisit them each term and adjust when necessary.  I love the feeling of crossing a goal off the list once it is reached!

Battle Preparation

Taking a little divergence from my planning posts to write about something controversial.  This is something that is weighing so heavily on my heart and mind that I don't have much mental energy for anything else.  I posed the question, "How do we prepare our children for the battle?" at the MODGFamilies Yahoo group, so if you are part of that group this might sound familiar.   I feel like this issue warrants a blog post, though I'm not sure I will be able to address it properly.  Please bare with me.

This whole question arose when, in choosing a speaker to give the commencement address at the high school my son attends, the faculty chose an openly gay man.  This man had recently posted on face book, or maybe YouTube, that he was engaged to another man.  Because of his openly gay stance, the principal decided to uninvite him to speak.  As you can imagine, this caused quite a problem for the man invited to speak, his family, and the faculty at the school.  I wont go into detail but suffice it to say things were a mess.  After four years at this high school I was so happy Night Owl was graduating.  I knew things weren't perfect there.  The Religion classes weren't always the best, but there was nothing said or taught that we weren't able to discuss at home, and bring the Church's truth and clarity to. 

What I didn't realize, is that there was a prevailing attitude of relativism which had affected my son to some degree, and for many of the students at the school to a large degree.  I don't think "relativism" was actually taught as in , "all is relative".  But there was that underlying attitude of relativism that seeped its way into the school.  I'm picturing it as a vile green smoke, that nobody seems to notice.  No one sees it and it has no smell, but its affects are damaging like a poison.

So we set the stage with relativism, and we throw in the fact that there is very little solid Catholic doctrine being taught.  Now we have a shaky foundation on the building into which this green mist seeps. Finally, when the seniors at the school are just about to graduate an issue like this comes up.

The teachers and students are angry at the principal who eventually blames everything on the Bishop.  The students are in a frenzy.  They all rally for the speaker.  They make t-shirts in one of their classes, they make a "students against homophobia" video in another, they are given permission to call an assembly... What a frenzy!  Everyone supports the speaker, but no one, no one, uses this as an opportunity to teach the students what the Church teaches.  There are letters to the editor about how the Catholic Church teaches hate and fear.  There are letters about bullying.  Anyone who tries to speak out for the truth is considered a hateful homophobic.  My son, and many others are confused. 

In all his life I never thought I would have to prepare him for this.  We studied the Catechism, we studied the saints, we studied the Bible.  I never thought to talk to him about how this issue would present itself in so much confusion that it would be hard to know what is right and what is wrong.  The faculty member who was involved in choosing this speaker spoke of how they teach tolerance at the school.  We did not know that going in.  We would have made different choices.  I am not a theologian but I do believe that tolerance is not a Catholic teaching.  I believe that LOVE is a Catholic teaching and sometimes love is hard.  Love tells us to love the person and help the person, not continue to enable him to live in a way that displeases God and will never make him happy.  I love this quote by Fulton Sheen regarding tolerance (mentioned at MODGfamilies)  ~

"There is no other subject on which the average mind is so much confused as the
subject of tolerance and intolerance...
Tolerance applies only to persons, but never to principles.
Intolerance applies only to principles, but never to persons."

             Fulton J. Sheen 1931
             The Curse of Broadmindedness

As my son graduates, I am relieved that this ordeal is over for him.  I am even more relieved that he is back on track and all is well in his heart and soul.  But I'm not willing to let it go.  In speaking with a friend recently I was so tired of it all I said I was done and we're moving on.  But I notice I can't just move on.  The fact is, there are so many children at the school who have been affected by this mess.  How are they moving on?  Is it no big deal, "live and let live"?  Are some choosing to act as though it never happened?  Have some become militant in the campaign for gay rights?  I don't know.  I do know that I need to keep praying.  I need to discern mightily - will any of my other children go to this high school?  If so, how will I prepare them differently?  If not, I have to realize this issue and others like it will come up in their lives no matter where they are.  How do I prepare them for that?  I don't know yet.  I am praying for wisdom because I feel at this point that is all I can do.  And then that nagging question... "Should I be doing more than just praying?  Should I be in that school, in some way, to shine the light of Christ?  Is there some way that I can dispel some of that green mist to bring the clarity of truth?"  I need to pray for courage if that is the case, but I am surely lacking in it!

I would like to end with a quote by a priest who is the pastor at another Catholic Church in our town.  His homily a couple of Sundays ago was in response to the mess at the Parish in which we are members.  His entire homily was beautiful.  A very loving, compassionate explanation of the Church's teaching.  I wished I had a tape recorder with me that day because I knew I would not be able to remember it all.  He did send this short quote to me when I requested it, for which I am grateful.  It is very pointed and a great explanation for all who don't understand why the Church does not accept the homosexual lifestyle~

The key is the complementarity of men and women. Sexual complementarity has to do with God making the human person as male and female, and they are meant for union. This union is a bodily reality as well as a spiritual, emotional, and psychological reality. Only a man and a woman can enter into a bodily union in the natural way. The bodily union is sacramental for Christians as it is meant to express a union with God and a union that images God’s love in the world that is total and complete (bodily), forever (unending), and open to life (conception of new life) if they are of the proper age. Only a man and a woman can give and receive each other in this embrace in a total way (bodily, psychologically, emotionally, spiritually). Our bodies are important.  Our bodies do matter and what we do in our bodies will have lasting effects on our hearts.

In closing I ask for prayers. I know this is a controversial topic and I also ask that all comments would be made in a prayerful way.  I reserve the right to delete comments that I feel are aggressive.

Beginning the Planning Process

        
Now that I have my scattered thoughts down on paper, I can begin to really organize for the coming year. I'm actually a bit late getting started on the planning process this year.  My mind had been full of  many things that we were dealing with, (like college hunting for Night Owl!) and planning for the future had to take a back seat for a bit.  But, my enthusiasm for planning a new year, and the knowledge that planning is essential if I want to have a peaceful, successful year to come, has kept me from keeping it on the back burner for too long. 

I wont be linking back to any old planning posts, although there are many!  My methods for planning have basically stayed the same, but each year I read about or come up with new ways to do things.  For me, this keeps things fresh.  I have an enthusiam for trying new things.  I've often heard people say "If it isn't broken, why fix it?", but I'm always ready to tweak things or change things completely just for variety. 

So, how am I planning for the 2012-2013 school year?  There are several things to take into consideration and I will hit on each of them in seperate posts to keep this one from getting too long.  Here are the steps I will be taking:

1. First, get all the random thoughts swirling around in my head down on paper.  I already did this, and I'll call this first step "Brain Declutter".  Once this notebook is full, it wont be forgotten!  I plan to re-read my notes regularly as I plan so that I don't forget to incorporate a new idea or a new resource.
2. Set Goals.  I will do this for each child individually and for our family as a whole.  This can be divided into five sections-
1. Academic Goals
2. Behavior Goals
3. Spiritual Goals
4. Social Goals
5. Physical Goals
3. School Calendar - This is simply deciding when our school year will begin and end, and any breaks that we will need to take throughout the year.
4. Choose Resources - This is the fun part!  Here I carefully decide on the resources we will use to help us meet the above goals.
5. Create shopping lists.  My lists cover the items I need to gather (already on my shelves) or purchase and from where I will purchase them.
6. Carefully consider how and when each resource will be used.  This includes setting some loose goals regarding where the children will be in each resource per term.
7. Devise a method to keep everyone informed of what they are to do each day, in each subject.
8. Create a daily schedule and work out the logistics.

I thought my list was complete but I just happened to jump over see what was going on at Wildflowers and Marbles and I found this beautiful idea!  Jen is awesome when it comes to pretty organizing ideas!  So adding a number 9 -

    9. Organize it all into some pretty notebooks!

I thought I would come back to this and add links to the planning posts that follow.  They are not all complete, but here are the next, completed posts:
Step 2: Setting Goals
Step 3: The Calendar
Step 4: Choosing Resources
Step 5: Hunting and Gathering
Step 6: Carefully Considering the Resources
Step 7: Assigning Assignments
Step 8: Scheduling the Day

Brain Clutter Solution

Over at 4Real some of the ladies are talking about Decluttering the Mind.  I thought I'd share a bit about how I do that.  This year in particular  I've had a lot on my mind and not a lot of time to be organized.  When I tried to sit down and start my planning for the coming year I had too many thoughts swimming around in my head!  It made it difficult to focus.  There were too many thoughts and not enough of the organization that my "type A" personality craves.  This was causing much stress and anxiety.  Enter the "Everything Notebook" or, to take a phrase from the ladies at 4Real, the "Brain Dump" Notebook.

I bought this little journal notebook from my local store when it was on sale.  It's a bit fancy for what I need.  I'm not usually a "jewel studded" person, but I thought this was pretty, and the price was right.  I had it sitting in my "giant bag of things to read and do" for a while until I decided I was going to use it to write random notes down, in no special order.  Well it didn't take me long to nearly fill it! 

"Giant Bag of Things to Read and Do"

I keep it with me on a regular basis and I've discovered how valuable it is for when I'm waiting.  I think I spend a lot of time just waiting - waiting to pick up Social Butterfly from dance, waiting for Night Owl to get done with his Chem lab at the university, waiting for various sports practices to end ...
I used to keep all my notes on my computer, but I don't always have access to that.  This little notebook has been just perfect for what I need.  As I'm leaving the house it's become my habit to grab my phone, my purse, my keys, and now this little notebook.

I decided right away that I was not going to try to keep it in any special "order".  This was difficult for me!  I don't even date the pages!  That's because I want to keep it random.  If I'm writing notes on our schedule for next year, I don't want to feel like I can't insert a note about Builder's Math.  If things were dated and in some sort of order I would hesitate to write it down.  I add these random notes by simply inserting a "random thoughts" box right smack down in the middle of my other strand of writing.  I just draw a box around it and label it "Random Thought" or "Side Note" or some such thing. Then I continue on with my thoughts on scheduling, or whatever I happen to be writing about.

Is it confusing to read then?  Not really.  I think since they are just my thoughts I can pretty much follow them.  It's actually sort of fun to detour from what I'm writing to insert something completely off topic.  I put these detours into  boxes or surround them with brackets; something to set them apart from the original writing.  I haven't gone so far as to use different colors yet.  I'm afraid I'd get too caught up in the "artsy" part and lose track of my thoughts.

This little notebook has really been the basis for much of my planning for the coming year.  It's been a crazy Spring so far and before I could actually get to the nitty gritty of planning for the coming year, I had to get all the those thoughts swirling around in my head down on paper.  My "Brain Dump" notebook has been just the thing I needed.

So, When Do You Blog?

I have a question for those with blogs who read my blog... When do you find time to blog?  Erin was so kind to comment here that I don't blog enough.  I wish I could find the time to do more blogging.  I have all sorts of ideas in my head that I would like to share.  The trouble is, I think of something to blog about and look over at my computer.  But on the way, my gaze passes "Mount Laundry-more", "the Valley of the Sink of Dirty Dishes", the angry looking daughter who is waiting for her math help, and my nose is telling me there is a 1 year old with a dirty diaper that needs changing - NOW.
So, dear readers, when exactly do you find time to write the wonderful blog posts I read? 

I'm delighted to recieve the Liebster Blog Award from my good friend Erin at Seven Little Australians and Counting !  Actually, she's not really an "in real life" friend.  I wish she was though!  I love reading Erin's blog posts and sharing ideas with her over at 4Real.  Maybe some day I'll get to Australia to meet her, or maybe she would rather come here ... probably not though.  Michigan would seem rather boring ... and COLD compared to Erin's home town.

My understanding is that the Liebster Blog Award is given to bloggers with less than 200 followers, to help them build their number of readers.  With only 7 followers, I am just a humble little blogger sharing my thoughts, when I get a moment to do so!  My hope is that some of my ideas may help my readers, just as I have been blessed by reading the blogs that others write.

So now to pass this very nice award on to fellow bloggers:

Beginning With The Assumption is a relatively new blog find for me.  I enjoy reading the posts written by KackyK, another member of 4Real.

And The Kitchen Sink is another great blog.  I love to read about the very real adventures that happen in this wonderfully large family!

Allison's blog, Totus Tuus Family has always been one of my favorites.  I think it is quite popular so  I doubt she needs more readers, but I notice her members count is just under 200, so I'm going to include her!

I've just found Catie's blog, Our Catholic Homeschool.  It was mentioned on the MODG Families Yahoo Group just as I was about to write this blog post.  Perfect timing!  So far I've enjoyed reading some of her curriculum reviews and seeing the photo of her precious new baby!

So there are four blogs that I am happy to direct you to!  Hope you enjoy reading them as much as I have!

Time to Plan

It's that time of year again, time to plan for the upcoming school year.  There are so many things to think about: Goals for each child, school supply storage, book storage, systems for keeping things organized, systems for assigning work, how to do a better job at keeping the house clean ...
All this on top of just trying to finish up this year! 

This has been our busiest Spring ever!  Between Confirmations and First Communions, Dance Recitals and Highschool Graduations I've hardly had time to think about next year.  I feel like I'm in survival mode.  I just keep thinking, "If I can just make it through June we'll be fine!"  Yet, the planning bug is persistant so even while I'm planting daylillies and spreading mulch to get ready for the Open House my mind is working on planning for the school year of 2012-2013.

So posts ahead will be about this and that, eventually getting to my final plans for next year.  If all goes well, those ideas I have stored in my brain will be the basis for an exciting year of learning for all my children, and for me!

My First Blogger Award!

Wow!  I am honored to receive my first blogger award!  Thank you to St. Francis De Sales Homeschool for the "Versatile Blogger Award". 
Here are the rules:

• Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them.
• Tell your readers 7 things about yourself.
• Give this award to 15 recently discovered bloggers.
• Contact those bloggers and let them in on the news.

Okay, seven things about myself....  Hmmm. Grab a cup of coffee or something with caffiene because this wont be too exciting! :)

1 - I had my 6th baby at the young age of 46.

2 - My oldest son is headed to Hillsdale College in the fall, and my baby is 1.

3 - My favorite vacation is camping - anywhere.  I like condo's on a beach too, but tent camping is my all time favorite.  Hotels are too confining for this family with 5 rough and rowdy boys!

4 - I was a classroom teacher for 10 years before I started homeschooling.  I loved the classroom but I love teaching my own children even more.

5 - My favorite time of the school year is the planning time!  I love to plan and I love to look at new curriculum.  Nothing is more exciting than a blank spreadsheet just waiting to be filled in!

6 - I don't like jelly beans!

7 - My favorite meal is anything eaten with my husband in a nice, quiet and peaceful atmosphere.  So PB&J in the car in a parking lot works just fine!

Now I'm supposed to pass this award on to 15 recently discovered blogs.  I will admit that not all 15 of these are recently discovered, but if you haven't discovered them I highly recommend them!

1. St. Francis Homeschool Blog
2. Seven Little Australians and Counting
3. By Sun and Candlelight
4. Harmony Art Mom
5. Wildflowers and Marbles
6. A Lee in the Woudes
7. Busy With Blessings
8. Like Mother Like Daughter
9. Shower of Roses
10. Sweetness and Light
11. Grace in Loving Chaos
12. Family in Feast and Feria
13. Finding Elegant Simplicity
14. My Symphony
15. Flowing Streams

A Spelling Program That Works

A very old picture, but since I'm talking about the program from which a component is pictured here, I thought it would be appropriate. :)

I have tried many spelling programs since we started homeschooling.  For various reasons, I found that, for my children, the traditional spelling workbook with a list and then several pages of activities just didn't work.  Maybe it's the "why?" factor.  My kids are like me, they don't just want to know how a word is spelled, or how a math computation is done, or how to diagram a sentence....  They want to know why.  Why do I spell chair with an "ai" instead of using a final "e"?  Why are be, me and we not spelled bee, wee, and mee?  I think this made memorizing a list of words difficult for them.  So I started looking for alternatives.   I have actually used a couple of effective programs but today I am going to talk about All About Spelling.

I have found All About Spelling to be quite effective.  I will admit  that the program is "mom-intensive" but I think any effective spelling program is going to take some mom time.   I also believe the time that I put in with my children in the beginning will pay off later when they no longer ask me how to spell every other word.  I find that All About Spelling gives them the tools to spell words so they no longer need my help.

Several of my children have used this program at one stage or another but I am going to concentrate on Jetter since he seemed to benefit the most from it.  One of the benefits of this program is the use of tiles.  This was especially helpful for Jetter early on as handwriting was painful for him.  He didn't have to write anything, so he could concentrate on learning to spell.  I appreciated that the tiles were colored to differentiate the vowels and the consonants.  He learned early on that every word has to have a vowel.  If the word he was spelling was all blue, I would simply ask "where's your vowel"?

As Jetter got older he started to get a little bored with the tiles so we tried some different things.  First, I continued to use the white board to which I had originally attached (with magnets) the letter tiles.  Instead of using the magnet letters, I gave Jetter two different colored dry erase markers.  He could write big so that was nice, and the colors once again helped him to see the vowels, vowel combinations, consonants, etc.  This was a great way to renew his interest when things started to get a bit stale.  (The end of February is always a good time to break out something new, in my opinion!)

I also discovered, once again as Jetter got older, that this program is fun to do at the computer.  I would let Jetter choose whatever font he wanted, as long as the letters were clear (no ultra-fancy calligraphy).  We enlarged the font to about 18 to make it extra clear and then he chose his two colors.  Doing it at the computer was really great because I could go back and use the highlighting tool to point out specific spelling patterns to him.

The use of dictation sentences is another plus.  Both phrases and sentences are given as dictation exercises.  I think this is invaluable.  Children can learn to spell words in lists, but often I hear, and find in my own situation, that the correct spelling of these words is not carried over to their other written work.  It can be quite frustrating to put stars and "A"s on a child's spelling tests week after week and then find that in their written work they can't spell well at all.  Practicing the words within sentences for dictation really helps.

One last point I would like to make regarding the "mom time" required.  If several children are using the program, the cards that come with it are great!  I can ask Social Butterfly to use the cards to quiz Jetter or vise-versa.    I used the cards to test my kids at the end of the lesson.  If they missed a word I just tucked it back into the section for the next lesson.  That way it was easy to remember that the child needed a little more review in that area and I didn't have to make any markings in my book.  (I know, "big deal" - insert eye roll).   But, if you're like me, you might jot little pencil notes to yourself in your teacher's manuals.  With several children using, or who will be using the program all those little pencil jottings add up.  Simply putting the card in the pile of next week's words reminds me to review that concept.

So All About Spelling has been an excellent program for us.  I highly recommend it.  Even for those with older children, it can be tweaked in the ways I mention above so they don't feel it's too juvenile.  One thing though, if you do decide to tweak it,  I think the tiles are important, at least in the beginning of using the program, regardless of the child's age.  There's just something about the concept of building the word that helps.

Lastly, the people at All About Spelling are great about answering questions!  I posted one a couple of years ago and not only did I get a quick reply, but the representative took the time to post a lengthy and detailed answer to my question.  He or she also continued to converse with me as I asked about other scenarios.  So another plus - the customer service is very  helpful!